The Crested Oropendola (of Central & South America) is a tropical member of the family Icteridae, which includes the Baltimore Oriole, Purple Grackle, Red-winged Blackbird, and Meadowlarks. Oropendolas build (as depicted here) vertical drooping nests which resemble gourds.

Sea Mink (Mustela macrodon), Great Auk (Pinguinus impennis), Atlantic Gray Whale (Eschrictus gibbosus gibbosus)...note: all three are now extinct: Atlantic Gray Whale (1825), Great Auk (1844) Sea Mink (1881) they lived on /off coastal areas of northeastern North America. The setting is Nova Scotia, circa 1800 (when all three still existed)

Related to both the Screech Owl (Otus asio) and Great Horned Owl (Bubo virginianus), the Long-Eared Owl (Asio otus) is intermediate in size, and typically occurs in coniferous (evergreen) & mixed (evergreen & deciduous) forests, and is strictly nocturnal. The elongated "ear" tufts (feathers) give the species its name

Exhibited December 13-22 at Flushing Town Hall Mother Earth is Dying: Environmental Injustice Exhibit curated by Wanda Best

A Green -Winged Macaw (Ara chloroptera) of South America, perched on a tree limb, waiting out a cloudburst in its rainforest habitat.

Exhibited December 13-22 at Flushing Town Hall
Mother Earth is Dying: Environmental Injustice Exhibit curated by Wanda Best

Found in most of the United States east of the Mississippi (to southern New England)

Yucatan Peninsula of Mexico, into Belize (formerly British Honduras) and Guatemala. Named for eye-shaped spots on tail feathers, also distinguished by red and yellow warts on head and neck.

Displayed at 2022 Flushing Town Hall Member Exhibit "Welcome Back."

The pandemic has had the incidental effect of reducing the impact of human activity on wildlife, which in turn has led to a partial rebound in populations, habitat, territory and behavior that is more natural to them, tying in with the exhibit's theme.

A male Red-winged Blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus) coming in for a landing (homecoming?) in his wet-lands environs. I have the opportunity to see these blackbirds (members of the Oriole Family, Icteridae) at various locales in the area, particularly Kissena Park in Flushing and Oakland Lake Park in Bayside. Even looking at a photo (or painting) of one, I can hear the whirring trill that is their signature song

Painted at workshop at the Poppenhusen Institute in College Point instructed by Linda Rufo

Pair of North American Ospreys ( Pandion haliaetus carolinensis) in the Florida Keys. Female (larger than male) awaits her mate returning to nest with caught Yellowtail Snapper (Ocyurus chrysurus) gripped in his talons, the fish's head facing forward to reduce (wind) resistance...

A crepuscular (twilight) painting of the Bayside Marina (near Crocheron Park).

MUTE SWANS (Cygnus olor), CANADA GEESE ( Branta canadensis), MALLARD DUCKS (Anas platyrhynchos) , RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD (Agelaius phoeniceus) , RED-EARED SLDER TURTLE ( Trachemys scripta elegans) , GREEN DARNER DRAGONFLY (Anax junius) ...

Painted commissioned by poet Babette Albin -- memorial tree she planted for her father-in-law.

Wildlife preserve at Lido Beach

Long Island (Lido Beach and Long Beach)

Long Island (Lido Beach and Long Beach)

First observed in early October , 2019 in Port Saint Lucie, Florida

This penguin specimen was recently seen in the South Georgia Islands (not too far from the Falklands) in the south Atlantic ocean, off the coast of South America

Southeastern Australia

Image printed for Flushing Town Hall fence show , Call and Response, September 2020